Can Pasadena Farmers Trademark the Term "Urban Homestead"? [Updated]

The Dervaes farm, which is beautifully captured in this video for I Am Los Angeles, has been a Pasadena institution since the 1980s and no one doubts their authority when it comes to growing tender greens. But the language in the letter about respecting their trademark, which Anais Dervaes has posted to their blog, is more than clear about their position. It just doesn't seem to be in the same spirit of a place that's all about, um, growing and sharing:

In addition, Dervaes Institute owns numerous trademarks which should be properly acknowledged if used. These protected names and images include the following registered trademarks:

URBAN HOMESTEAD®

URBAN HOMESTEADING®

PATH TO FREEDOM®

GROW THE FUTURE®

HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION®

FREEDOM GARDENS®

LITTLE HOMESTEAD IN THE CITY® (pending)

Also, THE TEN ELEMENTS OF URBAN HOMSTEADING copyright has been filed with the Library of Congress.

If your use of one of these phrases is not to specifically identify products or services from the Dervaes Institute, then it would be proper to use generic terms to replace the registered trademark you are using. For example, when discussing general homesteading or other people’s projects, they should be referred to using terms such as ‘modern homesteading,’ ‘urban sustainability projects,’ or similar descriptions.

This seems silly and unenforceable. Plus, it does seem a bit too late to try and wrestle a word back from what feels like a quite pervasive use in culture. According to the OC Weekly, the term has showed up in newspapers since the 1980s.

In an interview with the LA Weekly, Jules Dervaes defended the move. "We just wanted the term "urban homestead" to be part of what we started [at Path to Freedom] and be a pure standard and a legacy of what we started here," Dervaes told the LA Weekly. "We invested a lifetime of work and my childrens' work to make this a real possibility to help people." The family has published a series of blog posts explaining their side of the trademark battle, like comparing other trademarks in the agriculture field. (The SF Weekly posts an interesting angle wondering whether the copyright office made a mistake. Apparently, the Dervaes family was denied the trademark once before.)

I reached out to Knutzen and Coyne who pointed out that this kind of action goes against a key part of the homesteading movement. "Erik and I strongly believe that this movement must be open-source and accessible to all," says Coyne. "Once upon a time we would have learned homesteading skills at our mother's knee, but now we have to teach each other, share what we know, and help each other along. Generosity of spirit is an essential characteristic of the 'modern homesteader'—and I see this spirit everywhere we go."